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More than 2,000 years after an immaculate conception, and 23 years after an Immaculate Collection (yes, the greatest-hits album by that other Madonna), the world is now praying for an immaculate rotation.

The rotation in question refers, of course, to an orderly shift of money from bonds into other assets, including stocks. Because this bond bull market is the biggest ever—prices ran up for decades as the yield on 10-year Treasuries shrank steadily from 16% in 1981 to 1.4% last year—the process of unwinding it is fraught with risk. Even investors who favor stocks over bonds don't want to see an unruly flight, since a bond crash that sends interest rates soaring isn't good for anyone.

The bond dumping has slowed recently, and the addition of 195,000 jobs in June was treated as good news in the stock market. But in the bond market, it spurred more selling on Friday that sent the 10-year yield to a two-year high, topping 2.7%. "Fixed-income as an asset class has been in a bull market longer than stocks or gold or pretty much any other investible asset," Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at ConvergEx Group, noted recently. "At some point the party has to end, and the first half of 2013 feels like the bartender has just called 'last round.' "

Even with the Federal Reserve still buying loads of bonds, the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index has just suffered its worst quarterly setback in nine years, and bond-fund managers have had to apologize for uncharacteristic losses. Will rising rates steer investors from bonds into stocks? Stock bulls hope so.

Still, a bond-to-stock "migration is far from certain if stocks do not continue to reward their owners with further gains," Colas adds. For all the Fed has done to lift asset prices, inflation is growing at the sleepiest pace since 1960. Europe's recession is deepening, China's growth is slowing, and Middle East tensions again are front-page news. Investors shifting their focus from Fed support to economic fundamentals are concerned, quite rightly, about companies' already-high profit margins and wan revenue expansion.

Still, it helps that investor sentiment is far from exuberant and has moderated quickly with this summer's correction. Bank of America Merrill Lynch tracks the suggested allocation to stocks at Wall Street firms, and while that target recently ticked up to a 13-month high near 49.8%, it's still well below the long-term average of between 60% and 65%. Endowments like Harvard's are suffering lousy returns, and pensions that are underinvested in stocks are still catching up. A mid-June survey of 1,022 Charles Schwab customers showed nearly one in five has moved money into cash over the past three months. And just 49% think it's a good time to invest in the stock market.

Here's a snapshot of what thrived in the first half, courtesy of Bespoke Investment Group: The 50 smallest stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500 jumped 21.9%, trumping the 13.3% gain by the 50 largest. The 50 stocks with the cheapest price/earnings valuations surged 26.7%, versus just 13.8% for the 50 with the richest valuations. The decile paying no dividends jumped 19.9%, beating 12.2% for the decile paying the most generous yield. Most heavily shorted stocks rose 22.6%, versus 14.3% for the least-shorted cohort. And the decile with the worst analyst ratings gained 22.7%, trumping 13.5% for the most-beloved group.

Clearly, cheap junkier stocks were lifted in the gush of easy money. But with a more volatile second half and more normal monetary policy, some of our focus might start shifting back toward bigger, quality stocks.

Like simple carbs, the bullish thesis for Dunkin' is easy to digest: The East Coast mainstay has ample opportunity to expand westward, with plans to add 360 stores this year and boost its U.S. store count by 4% to 6%. With just 3,173 foreign locations and 4,517 outposts of its Baskin Robbins unit abroad at the end of 2012, the company can open hundreds of overseas locations in its quest to export American calories. Franchisees pay Dunkin' a small cut of revenue but shoulder the cost of outfitting new stores, which keeps Dunkin's operating costs under control.

Alas, much of the good news is in the stock, along with mounting expectations. Fast food is crowded with competition and rife with discounts. Dunkin' has about $1.6 billion of net debt, more than four times its estimated $372 million in 2013 cash flow—and free cash flow yield shrinks to roughly 0.3% after debt and dividend payments. What happens when borrowing costs rise?

Wall Street analysts who've been drinking the Coolatta are always fawning over so-called innovations from K-cups to new sandwich recipes, but wedging bacon and eggs between a sliced donut is hardly a culinary breakthrough. As delicious as they are as occasional treats, fried dough and powdered sugar are, at best, an immaculate confection.